Lead and method of purifying and improving the same.



No Drawing.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUS'I'E IT. ROSSI, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE TITANIUM ALLOY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

LEAD AND METHOD OF PURIFYING AND IMPROVING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 6, 1911. Serial No. 601,164.

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, AUGUSTE J. RossI, a

i citizen of the United States, residing at Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of New vYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lead and .Methods of Purifying and Improving the Same, of which the following is a specificaover throughout said mass are also found, to

greater or less extent, other substances, or

compounds, foreign to lead resulting from the methods of manufacture, as for instance residual drosses, or slags, and sometimes sulfids, etc., which owing to their comparative 'infusibility or lack of fluidity or both are unable to rise out of the molten metal and consequently may to greater or less extent remain entangled therein after its solidification.

The aforesaid foreign elements and compounds are usually unhomogeneously distributed in uncontrollable locations throughout the mass of the metal, thus producing blow-holes or other cavities devoid of lead and often charged with impurities which, when the metal'is drawn, result inincorporated layers of foreign substances which. proportionately, and undesirably, impair the metallic continuity of the mass, thus diminishin its efiiciency for many of its present ind ustrial uses, as for example pipes and the like in which it is particularly important that the constituent lead shall be continuous'and impervious. I believe that it has hitherto proved impossible to produce or melt lead, on an industrial scale, without incorporation and retention in the resulting ,.metallic mass of such foreign elements and compounds, and to such extent, as-to preclude its possession intheoretically normal degree of desirable physical properties to be expected as characterizing pure lead.

The object of my present invention is to provide methods of treatment whereby with such economy, simplicity and speed as to be practicable on an industrial scale, lead possessing superior properties may be produced in masses substantially devoid of undesired foreign elements and also of compounds including sulfids and slags, drosses, etc. I attain said objects by means of my novel procedure hereinafter described, viz :-I have discovered that if to lead, as now produced in the industrial arts, and while it is melting or molten, there be added merely enough titanium to satisfy chemical aflinity therefor of all such undesired elements present, whether in free or combined state, all these, including drosses and slags, and, besides,

such titanium so added, will be eliminated from the molten mass, the resulting product being substantially solid pure lead.

My said invent-ion comprises the'following procedures: To a bath comprisin the melting, or molten, lead to be treated, I may impart the presence of metallic titanium in such small quantity, proportioned as nearly as possible, as is sufficient merely to satisfy the chemical affinities therefor of the said undesired elements and compounds present. The said proportion of titanium required may be determined in any convenient mannor, as, for example, by usual calculations based on the kinds and proportions of said undesired elementsuand compounds as disclosed by preliminary chemical analyses of specimens of the mass of any given type of commercial or other lead desired to be treated; or by varying tentatively the proportions of titanium so added until attainment of a final product containing substantially neither said undesired elementsandcompounds nor substantially any titanium, the proportion of latter used with such result being that required for application of my invention thereafter to the particular type of lead mass so tested. The titanium is so added in its elemental or metallic form, as, for example, an alloy of titanium with some metal, preferably in most cases an alloy of titanium with lead having a content of 10% to 12% or thereabout of titanium. The titanic material employed may be preferably added in such sub-divided state as will facilitate to an extent its distribution relatively to the mass of molten lead.

The titanic material may be charged into the crucible or other container of the bath prior to introduction thereinto of the melting or molten lead, or it may be charged upon the latter, in which case a covering of molten slag or the like may be superim posed as per my Letters Patent No. 877 ,518,' dated January 28, 1908 to prevent reactions I with constituents of the atmosphere. It ap pears, however, that, notwithstanding the higher melting point and the lower specific gravity of titanium as compared with lead, elemental titanium in the aforesaid proportion, however added, dissolves readily in the lead and is able to reach, and react upon, or chemically combine with, all undesired ele ments and compounds present in the molten mass. After addition .of the titanium, the

temperature of the bath. is maintained at fully that "of the melting *poin of lead and will be foundto be somewhat heightened by to form oxid of titanium; the presence ofwhich in the bath imparts to therein 00- eluded .drosses or slags suficient fluidity to insure their rising properly to the surface of the molten mass, and besides this, incases in which. the titanium added is insuflicient in amount-to both' combine with undesired elements and in addition to' completely deoxi- I 'dize the entire amount'of oxide of lead present, the titanium oxid already formed as aforesaid will .roceed to further combine with such remalning undecomposed oxids of lead to form a titanate of lead which I have found to also similarly increase'the fluidity j and -fusibility of the dresses or slags and thus insure. their removal at expenditure of lead may be less titanium than theoretically required for combination with all undesired elements and compounds present. v

After. the aforesaid, operations the molten tapped out and cast in theusual manner. Y

It will be understood that while afinal lead product free fromtitaninm as well as the impurities mentioned is primarilydesired and represents one feature of my presititanium in the resulting product may be unent invention, nevertheless, for some purposes, presence lncidentally of. some'little objectionable or desired. Such instances may .be those :in which the proportlon of titanium remaining in the final product is lessthansay 1%- being an amount insufii cient to justify its designation as an alloy of titanium in the usual commercial sense, or dependenceon such amount of titanlum for purposes other than to improve said product itself. Such instances I regard as belng within the purview of my present improveinents. The presence of such small percentages of titaniumimparting improved physical properties and being of advantage to v prevent absorption of gaseous Impurities 7 should my purified lead be remelted' To re-- tain such small percentages of titanium in the final product it is only necessary to increase accordingly the amount of titanium added as hereinbefore described. f p

The treatment of lead as per my above described tinvention results in a novel final product which is characterized as-being a l continuously solid mass consisting through- I out of substantially pure 'metallic lead; as

being substantially devoid ofundesiredelements or compounds including drosses and slags; ascontaining less than 1% of titanium; as free from blow-holes and other i physical imperfections due to presence Oreo action of elements and substances other'than lead, and .as of greater density besides posse'ssing other desirable qualities ingreater industrial scale. d

What I claim as newfand desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following, viz 1. The method of improving the properties of lead which. consists in adding thereto measure than lead heretofore produced on an while'molten titanium in amount sufficient to result in a finalproduc't containing-titanium not to exceed-1%.

2. The method 'of'improving the properties of lead which consists in adding" thereto while molten an alloy containing titanium in amount suflici ent to result in a final product containing titanium not to exceed 1%.

3. The method of improving the properties of lead which consists in adding thereto whilemolten an alloy containing lead and titanium in amount sufficient to result in a containing titanium not to'ex- I ceed 1%. Y 1 4. As a new article a. metallic body-composed preponderatingly of lead and containi final product ing titanium not to exceed 1%. 1

5. As a new article leadcontai nium not to exceed 1%.

Witnesses: 4 I

WALTER D. 'EDMoNns, GEORGE G. MEASURES:

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